In the field of garage doors, there are conventionally two more popular configurations. One configuration is a canopy-type door, which is supported on both sides of the door and lifts upwardly and outwardly to reveal the door opening. The second conventional configuration is a multi-sectioned track-guided door, which has multiple interconnected articulating sections supported at both sides by tracks and opens by sliding upwardly and articulating at the section breaks.
Both of the conventional garage door configurations can be opened by an automated garage door opener. In each instance, the conventional automated garage door opener mechanism includes a trolley that slides along a track and is motivated by a driving mechanism. The trolley slides back and forth along the track in a substantially horizontal direction toward the door and away from the door. Some form of coupling means is provided to connect the trolley with the door. With very little modification, if any, the single track horizontal automated garage door opener mechanism can be configured to open both the canopy-type door and the multi-section-type door.
In addition to the previously mentioned canopy-type garage door and multi-section-type garage door, there is a third configuration that is also relatively common. The third configuration involves a single or double door having substantially vertically aligned hinges along one side of each door. The door swings outwardly in the same fashion as a conventional front door of a house or door leading from one room to another within a house or building. This type of outwardly swinging garage door is most often found on barn-type buildings, carriage houses, other structures architecturally duplicating a barn or carriage house type structure, and the like. There has not been provided an adequate solution for an automated garage door opener for such outwardly swinging doors. The conventional single track opener, as previously described, has only been able to accommodate the canopy or multi-sectioned doors.